A results-based incentive scheme to improve performance

Profesores e investigadores cualificados y motivados son un insumo clave en el éxito de cualquier esfuerzo de la educación superior como lo señala Salmi (2009). La contratación de profesores con calificaciones adecuadas es, por supuesto, parte de la respuesta para lograr esto. Sin embargo, la mejora de la competitividad de una universidad desde dentro, es una tarea mucho más difícil cuando la carrera académica se ha basado históricamente en la edad más que en el mérito. Un plan de incentivos basado en los resultados simples y transparentes puede ayudar a reestructurar el rendimiento académico. La Universidad del Pacífico, institución privada sin fines de lucro, especializada en los campos de economía y negocios, lanzó en 2007 un sistema de incentivos de estas características. Las bonificaciones monetarias y promociones están vinculadas a un conjunto de indicadores de resultados, cada uno con un peso particular que refleja las prioridades de la universidad con respecto a la enseñanza de habilidades, logros de investigación y difusión. Se describe este sistema de incentivos para discutir brevemente sobre las "políticas" internas de su aprobación e implementación, y evaluar sus posibles efectos en la producción académica después de 5 años de operación continua. Esta experiencia puede proporcionar lecciones útiles sobre cómo crear un punto de inflexión fundamental en las universidades.A qualified and motivated pool of professors and researchers is a key input in any successful higher education endeavor (Salmi, 2009). Hiring professors with adequate qualifications is, of course, part of the answer to achieve this. However, improving the competitiveness of a university from within, and when the academic career has been historically based on age rather than on merit, is a much more difficult task. We believe a simple and transparent results-based incentive scheme can help reshape academic performance. Universidad del Pacífico, a medium size not for profit private institution specialized in economics and business fields, launched in 2007, an incentive system with these characteristics (Universidad del Pacífico, 2008). Monetary bonuses and promotions are linked to a set of results indicators, each having a particular weight which reflects university’s priorities regarding teaching skills and research accomplishments and dissemination. We describe this incentive system, briefly discuss the internal “politics” of its approval and implementation, and assess its potential effects on academic performance after 5 years of continuous operation

Perceptual Generalization and Context in a Network MemoryInspired Long-Term Memory for Artificial Cognition

Abstract: In the framework of open-ended learning cognitive architectures for robots, this paper deals with thedesign of a Long-Term Memory (LTM) structure that can accommodate the progressive acquisition ofexperience-based decision capabilities, or what different authors call “automation” of what is learnt, asa complementary system to more common prospective functions. The LTM proposed here provides fora relational storage of knowledge nuggets given the form of artificial neural networks (ANNs) that isrepresentative of the contexts in which they are relevant in a configural associative structure. It alsoaddresses the problem of continuous perceptual spaces and the task- and context-related generalizationor categorization of perceptions in an autonomous manner within the embodied sensorimotor apparatusof the robot. These issues are analyzed and a solution is proposed through the introduction of two newtypes of knowledge nuggets: P-nodes representing perceptual classes and C-nodes representing contexts.The approach is studied and its performance evaluated through its implementation and application to areal robotic experimentXunta de Galicia; ED431C 2017/12Xunta de Galicia; ED341D R2016/01

Psychometric properties of the Pride in Eating Pathology Scale in a Spanish population

Background: In its relation to eating disorders, pride is one of the self-conscious emotions least analyzed, and requires valid and reliable instruments for its measurement. This study aimed to examine the factor structure and the psychometric properties of the Pride in Eating Pathology Scale (PEP-S), in the Spanish general population, as well as between-sex diferences in PEP-S scores. Methods: Of the 1483 participants aged 18 to 34 (M=21.99; SD=3.09), 954 were women (65.2%) and the majority were university students (78.8%). Psychometric properties of the scale were tested in a cross-sectional design using cross-validation, i.e., exploratory and confrmatory factor analysis, and estimation of invariance (sex). Results: The four-factor structure found was similar to the original scale with invariance across sex and internal consistency (ordinal alpha .99) and stability (.85). Evidence of convergent validity and diferences between sexes were found. Specifcally, women scored higher on all the factors, including the healthier sense of pride. Conclusions: The PEP-S scale is an instrument with evidence of validity and reliability in the Spanish population. Although it still has to be tested in a clinical population, it constitutes a promising instrument for the evaluation of the self-conscious emotion, pride

Molecular identification of six species of Calliphoridae (Diptera) with forensic interest in Bogotá, Colombia

Taxonomic identification of the species involved in the processes of cadaveric decomposition is a fundamental procedure in forensic entomological analysis. Among the species involved in the processes of decay, those of the Calliphoridae family are particularly important because they come to the body in the early stages of decomposition. The aim of this research is to identify six species of Calliphoridae (Calliphora nigribasis, Calliphora vicina, Compsomyopsis verena, Sarconesiopsis magellanica, Chrysomia albiceps and Roraimomusca roraima) with forensic interest found in Bogotá. For that, sequences of 599 bp from mitochondrial gene COII wereas obtained. The identification was made by analysis of genetic distances under Jukes-Cantor model. The results showed levels of interspecific distances greater than 3.7%, while intraspecifics levels does not exceed 2.3%. The genetic distances obtained were used to construct a phenogram under the Maximum Likelihood model and the topology of that tree agrees with the current taxonomic organization for the family Calliphoridae family

Psychometric properties of the Pride in Eating Pathology Scale in a Spanish population

Background In its relation to eating disorders, pride is one of the self‑conscious emotions least analyzed, and requires valid and reliable instruments for its measurement. This study aimed to examine the factor structure and the psychometric properties of the Pride in Eating Pathology Scale (PEP‑S), in the Spanish general population, as well as between‑sex differences in PEP‑S scores. Methods Of the 1483 participants aged 18 to 34 (M = 21.99; SD = 3.09), 954 were women (65.2%) and the majority were university students (78.8%). Psychometric properties of the scale were tested in a cross‑sectional design using cross‑validation, i.e., exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, and estimation of invariance (sex). Results The four‑factor structure found was similar to the original scale with invariance across sex and internal consistency (ordinal alpha .99) and stability (.85). Evidence of convergent validity and differences between sexes were found. Specifically, women scored higher on all the factors, including the healthier sense of pride. Conclusions The PEP‑S scale is an instrument with evidence of validity and reliability in the Spanish population. Although it still has to be tested in a clinical population, it constitutes a promising instrument for the evaluation of the self‑conscious emotion, pride

Generación automática de resúmenes extractivos para un solo documento: un mapeo sistemático

La Generación Automática de Resúmenes Extractivos para un Solo Documento (GAReUD) es un área de investigación que tiene como objetivo crear una versión corta de un documento con la información más relevante y adquiere mayor importancia a diario debido a la necesidad de los usuarios de obtener rápidamente información de documentos publicados en internet. En el área de generación automática de resúmenes cada elemento debe ser evaluado y luego rankeado para conformar un resumen, de acuerdo con esto, existen tres diferentes enfoques teniendo en cuenta la cantidad de objetivos que se evalúan, así: mono objetivo, multi objetivo y de muchos objetivos. El propósito de este mapeo sistemático es brindar conocimiento sobre los métodos y técnicas utilizadas en métodos extractivos de GAReUD, analizando la cantidad de objetivos y características evaluadas, que pueden ser útiles para futuras investigaciones. Este mapeo se realizó utilizando un proceso genérico para la realización de revisiones sistemáticas donde se construye una cadena de búsqueda considerando unas preguntas de investigación, luego se utiliza un filtro con unos criterios de inclusión y exclusión para la selección de los estudios primarios con los que se realizará el análisis, adicionalmente, estos estudios se ordenan de acuerdo con la relevancia de su contenido; este proceso se resume en tres pasos principales: Planificación, Ejecución y Análisis de resultados. Al final del mapeo se identificaron las siguientes observaciones: (i) existe una preferencia por la utilización de métodos basados en aprendizaje automático de máquina y también por el uso de técnicas de agrupamiento, (ii) la importancia de usar como objetivos ambos tipos de características (estadísticas y semánticas) y (iii) la necesidad de explorar el enfoque de muchos objetivos

Contribución al conocimiento de la flora de Andalucía: citas novedosas e interesantes de la provincia de Almería

Contribution to the knowledge about Andalusian flora: new and interesting cites of the Almería province.Palabras clave. Corología, Isla de Alborán, sureste ibérico, xenófitas.Key words. Corology, Alborán Island, South-Eastern Iberian Peninsula, xenophytes

Aproximación a la checklist de los gipsófitos ibéricos

Approximation to the Iberian gypsophytes checklist. The close relationship between some kinds of soils and the flora growing on them has been long known. Gypsum soils stand as a prominent example of this relationship, since some plants exclusively grow on gypsum outcrops. Nowadays this close relationship is known as gypsophily and the plant species exhibiting it are called gypsophytes. As Cavanilles already found out in the 18th century, the Iberian flora is rich in gypsophytes. From then on many botanists have considerably enlarged the list of gypsophytes. However we still lack a more or less conclusive catalogue of the Iberian gypsophytes. Only some publications dealing with the gypsum flora or vegetation may serve as references for the drafting of a preliminary catalogue. This idea has recently inspired a preliminary list of gypsophytes which has been later enlarged with the addition of new species recorded now and then in a number of specific Floras and other works of a general scope. On the basis of this list, 12 botanists adept at gypsum flora have been asked to rank the liking of these species for gypsum soils. The gypsophilous character of 140 species have been thus ranked on a scale ranging from 1 to 5 (with 5 representing an absolute liking for gypsum soils). According to the median values, some 50 species can be considered as either absolute or preferent gypsophytes

Estrategia de formación ambiental del Centro de Investigaciones y Servicios Ambientales Ecovida. Validación

From the need to improve the environmental training processes in the Center for Environmental Research and Services, Ecovida an investigation was developed based on the problem identified: How to contribute from the popular environmental education to the improvement of the environmental training of Ecovida for its incidence in strategic social actors and scientific processes that are managed ?; outlining the following objective: to base a formative strategy supported in the theoretical-methodological conception of the environmental popular education directed to the groups of strategic social actors and scientific processes of the institution. This strategy opted for the integration of knowledge, disciplines and processes from a participatory methodology, which allowed to complete cycles in synergy with training, research, and introduction of scientific results, favoring critical thinking and a systemic approach in environmental training. For its development and implementation, empirical methods were used such as: Research-action-participation, documentary analysis, Delphis method and techniques such as: discussion groups, Ishikawa, the SWOT matrix, the semantic differential and the focus group that facilitated, analysis, processing of the information that was produced, collective construction and validation of the strategy. The results obtained contributed to the satisfaction of learning demands of the groups of strategic actors, the integration of scientific processes in the institution and the strengthening of the capacities and abilities of the students for the development of participatory environmental management practices with clarity of roles and political commitment.Desde la necesidad de perfeccionar los procesos de formación ambiental en el Centro de Investigaciones y Servicios Ambientales, Ecovida se desarrolló una investigación, a partir del problema identificado: ¿Cómo contribuir desde la educación popular ambiental al perfeccionamiento de la formación ambiental de Ecovida para su incidencia en actores sociales estratégicos y procesos científicos que se gestan?; trazándose el objetivo de: fundamentar una estrategia formativa sustentada en la concepción teórico-metodológica de la educación popular ambiental dirigida a los grupos de actores sociales estratégicos y procesos científicos de la institución. Esta estrategia apostó por la integración de saberes, disciplinas y procesos desde una metodología participativa, que permitió completar ciclos en sinergia con la formación, investigación, e introducción de resultados científicos, favoreciendo el pensamiento crítico y el enfoque sistémico en la formación ambiental. Para su desarrollo e implementación, se utilizaron métodos empíricos como: la Investigación-acción-participación, el análisis documental, método Delphis y técnicas como: grupos de discusión, Ishikawa, la matriz FODA, el diferencial semántico y el grupo focal que facilitaron, análisis, procesamiento de la información que se produjo, construcción colectiva y validación de la estrategia. Los resultados obtenidostributaron a la satisfacción de demandas de aprendizajes de los grupos de actores estratégicos, la integración de los procesos científicos en la institución y el fortalecimiento de las capacidades y habilidades de los educandos para el desarrollo de prácticas de gestión ambiental participativa con claridades de roles y compromiso político